Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan — who voted FOR Obamacare — has joined 17 other U.S. senators who are seeking to delay the Obamacare medical devices tax.
As economists and fiscal conservatives have continually pointed out , raising taxes on job creators hurts the companies’ ability to compete, to retain jobs, and to create new ones. When the cost of doing business goes up, being profitable and successful becomes harder. Sen. Hagan is acknowledging this economic reality.
From the letter Sen. Hagan signed about the Obamacare medical devices tax, courtesy of the the Washington Examiner:
“The medical technology industry directly employs over 400,000 people in the United States and is responsible for a total of two million skilled manufacturing jobs,” the senators wrote in a December 4 letter to Reid. “We must do all we can to ensure that our country maintains its global leadership position in the medical technology industry and keeps good jobs here at home.”
Beyond that, the senators say, the medical device industry “has received little guidance about how to comply with the tax” — a reference to the apparently confused and halting nature of the Obama administration’s implementation of Obamacare.
Liberals have for years recognized the economic impact of tax hikes with their support of higher taxes on tobacco. They openly state their support of sin taxes is predicated on the goal of reducing smoking. In other words, they understand that when you tax something more, you get less of it. That economic fact also holds true for raising taxes on income, investment, etc. You will get less of it.
I applaud Sen. Hagan for acknowledging this. However, she must go further and vote to get rid of this tax completely, not just delay its implementation.
